Basketball Game Preview: Cole Cougars vs. Poth Pirates

Cole has won six straight games at home, while Poth has won six straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Cole Cougars will welcome the Poth Pirates at 8:00 p.m. Cole knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past five matches -- so hopefully Poth likes a good challenge.

Cole is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They secured a 55-50 W over Aransas Pass. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 234th in Texas, while the Panthers are ranked 535th in Texas), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Logan Beckstrom

Points

02/25/25 vs Aransas Pass	32
02/18/25 vs Natalia	45
02/10/25 @ Young Men's Leadership Academy	19
02/07/25 vs Great Hearts Northern Oaks	22

It was another big night for Logan Beckstrom, who went 9-for-14 on his way to 32 points along with five boards and five steals. The game was his fourth in a row with at least 19 points. Aaron Braxton was another key player, going 7-for-14 to rack up 16 points and five rebounds.

Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Poth beat Taft 56-51 on Tuesday.

Poth is on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 13 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 21-11 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.7 points over those games. Cole's win bumped their record up to 28-7.

Cole came out on top in a nail-biter against Poth when the teams last played back in March of 2024, sneaking past 46-43. Will Cole repeat their success, or does Poth have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.